YET again Queensland have stormed to State of Origin victory, triumphing 34-6 in Brisbane last night to conclude what would once have been inconceivable: a fifth straight Origin series victory.

There are Blues fans who are already shaving and are yet to cheer their state to victory. At this rate they'll be buying homes and inducting their own children into the annual ritual of suffering that the series has become before they experience the delirium of victory.

Unable to match Queensland with the ball, NSW forwards Paul Gallen and Luke O'Donnell led a markedly more confrontational approach, mixing belligerent stares with swinging arms. O'Donnell then managed a quick trifecta - a dangerous lifting tackle on Darius Boyd, followed by a headbutt and a nasty left uppercut on Queensland monster Dave Taylor. Punches were thrown in number but normal transmission was quickly restored and the Queensland tries kept flowing. In all, six of them, scored apparently at will.

State of Origin II

The Blues' problems had begun even before kick-off. Six changes to the losing side from game one became seven when Blues assistant coach Andrew Johns used racist language to describe opposition stars Israel Folau and Greg Inglis, prompting one of the best on the NSW side, Timana Tahu, to walk out of the team in protest. Not only did they have to find a new winger, they also had to deal with stern accusations that the Blues have long been an unhappy camp for indigenous players - in contrast to the extensive and enormously successful contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have made to the Queensland cause.

Advertisement

Case in point, Inglis, the boy from Bowraville, NSW, who threw his lot in with the Maroons with spectacular effect and has terrorised the Blues ever since. Inglis seemed to draw particular pleasure from his first try last night and remained in furious confrontation with Beau Scott throughout the match.

Asked about the prematch controversy after the game, Inglis said: ''I was pretty upset about it, quite disappointed to be honest.''

The Queensland captain, Darren Lockyer, architect of many a Maroons victory, is on the verge of retirement. Folau has heard the siren call of Kevin Sheedy, joining another Queenslander, Karmichael Hunt, in AFL. The Blues' best chance of victory? They can only hope Sheedy avails himself of the rest of this peerless Queensland team.

Related Coverage

17 Jun
BRILLIANT and brutal. And by the time a football match finally broke out of the boxing contest, Queensland had won a fifth consecutive series. Even through bitterness, even Blues supporters surely could not argue this was Origin at its best - even if it was NSW close to its worst.

17 Jun
NSW'S preparations for Game III have already been dealt a heavy blow, with forward Luke O'Donnell facing a month on the sidelines for a lifting tackle that Sam Thaiday felt should have resulted in a send-off.

17 Jun
David Peachey has become the latest indigenous former star to question NSW's selection policy in the wake of the race controversy. ''Take a look at the top-line indigenous players that scooped big awards but for some reason couldn't be put in a sky-blue jersey,'' Peachey told Rugby League Week.

17 Jun
GREG INGLIS'S teammates knew he was in for a special game. After his innocent part in the extraordinary racism scandal that marred the lead-up to this emotion-charged evening in Brisbane you had a feeling he would tear the Blues apart.

17 Jun
Those punters who backed NSW to win against the odds last night - yes, incredibly, there were some - must also believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Or they are just plain stupid.

17 Jun
MAROONS coach Mal Meninga warned his players NSW would try to unsettle them in last night's match and accused the Blues of having no answers to Queensland's five-year Origin domination after resorting to niggling tactics.

17 Jun
It could have ended in disaster but Queensland winger Darius Boyd says he holds no hard feelings towards Luke O'Donnell for the awful spear tackle that sparked a wild brawl in last night's Origin demolition at Suncorp Stadium.